Franking the Frankenphone 554

[McHeath]

A year ago the old man across the street gave my son a beige 554 that was lurking about in a pile in his garage.  It was filthy, and of course worked fine.  Upon inspection I found that it was a true beast of a phone.

Chassis from 11-59
Network from 11-59
C4A ringer from 11-59
Shell from 2-82
Handset from 2-82
Dial, 9C, from 4-69
Receiver from 8-64
Transmitter from 1-72
Transmitter cap from 68
Receiver cap from 71

Furthermore it had been fully modularized, and had a modular backplate attached as well with a sold by date of 12-23-83 by Nevada Bell.

Most of the parts were once different colors, green red and black, and Bell had painted them all beige to match the cord and dial bezel.

Frankly the phone was not very interesting to me, I did a little cleaning on it, and hung it in the garage.

But when our member jsowers posted his pictures of his 6-10-55 unit, with the unknown to me black switch-hook, I renewed my interest in this phone.  I really like the look of the early all black 500s and 554s, and so I figured that since the odds of ever coming across a real one were slim to none, I'd make one out of my goofball beige 554.

I did not take a picture of the 554 when I started, sad oversight, but here are the various parts.

[McHeath]

The housing is melted from my goofup with the oven when baking on the black paint, the subject of another post here:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=1228.0

But you can see that it was red originally, and then painted beige by Ma Bell.

The other parts will not be reused.

I have a 7D dial from 1954 from a dud of a 500 that worked, so after cleaning up it went into the 1959 554 chassis.  Along with a nice black dial bezel that cleaned up well, so that starts the illusion.

I used some Radio Shack electronics cleaner and lubricant on the dial, it was super dirty, and it did a great job cleaning and making the dial nice and smooth.  Hope it stays that way.

Also gave the chassis a once over, cleaned and polished the gongs, and cleaned the rest, it came out well but I don't yet have a pic.

For a handset I have a 7-55 G1 also from the dud 500 that will be used.  The finish was totally gone, it was bumpy and rough and dull.  I think this phone lived in a barn or something it's whole life as it was filled with bug cocoons and mud dauber nests. 

I painted the G1, and it looked terrible, all bumpy still.  So after a good sanding and a repaint it came out very well.

[McHeath]

At present the phone is on the kitchen wall and awaiting a new shell coming from Dennis, and a large, early black switch-hook I found from a source in Canada. (it cost $5 for the part and $15 for shipping, it's Northern Electric make)   When they arrive they will be painted to match the handset and installed and hopefully my faux first year 554 will be complete.  The handset cord is from Oldphoneworks, and a nice straight one would be nice but it does get daily use so this is more practical.

The handset on it is not the G1, it's a G3 from 1970 and is temporary as well while I let the G1 paint season. 

[Sargeguy]

It's very Bauhaus looking.

[JorgeAmely]

The handset looks very nice. What kind of paint did you use? Glass smooth finish, like a piano?

[McHeath]

I'm really surprised at how the handset came out, it's very smooth and glass like is a good adjective.  The paint is Krylon Fusion, which claims to be "no prep superbond paint for plastic" and that it "dries in 15 minutes".

I gave the first lousy coat of paint, the same brand as the final, a good wet sanding with 800 grit.  It smoothed nicely and then I painted again, and low and behold it came out well.  I liked it so much that I decided to upgrade this project phone from garage phone to kitchen.

The paper cover does look a little Bauhaus eh? 

[jsowers]

I am truly honored to have inspired you. That melted housing is a phone collector's worst nightmare, but I like the Bauhaus paper cover. A very creative substitute for a housing, and it gives a great color combination. Sort of a black and tan. The hound dog model, so to speak.

The black 50s 554s with the thick switchhook do show up in auctions from time to time. Not the earliest ones with the black switchhook, but the black housing/thick chrome switchhook models are probably the most plentiful of the 1950s 554 models. Keep looking and one will show up. That's a great location you have in the kitchen for the phone too.

[McHeath]

The new cover arrived yesterday that Dennis sent me, the packing of it deserves some mention as it was a textbook case of how to properly pack a phone for shipping.  (Thanks Dennis!) I took some pics and will post them when I get a chance.

[McHeath]

Painted the "new" cover, it's dated 1968, with it's first coat of black.  You can see the surface flaws in the paintjob, it will be sanded after a few days of drying time and then given the final coat.

[McHeath]

A few pics of the progress in turning this phone into something looking like a first year or two 554.  The black hook switch should be arriving from Canada this next week.

[foots]

So far its looking like you've done a very good job. It should come out very nicely.

[McHeath]

The large black switch hook came.  It's off a Northern Electric 554 dated 1965, the phone had seen better days and is pretty much beat to hell.  But the hook is okay, which is all I wanted from it.  Curiously the phone was refurbed in March of 1997, and the handset seems to date from that time as well as the handset cord, hardwired to boot.

Here is the hook, oddly it's made of plastic but is a dead ringer for the early large metal hooks.

[McHeath]

Now for a comparison with the metal hook my 554 came to me with. 

[McHeath]

Installed on the 554, and I also put the G1 handset on as well.  At this point the project is almost finished, all it needs is for the case to be sanded with 800 grit and then given a final coat of paint.  It makes a reasonably convincing fake 1955 model 554 I think, just don't look too close!

[JorgeAmely]

Sir, excellent job. I have a few phones that need a tune-up like that. How much do you charge?